Solo was in the news in 2013 following that complaints of now-husband, former University of Washington and Seattle Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens, may have been involved in a domestic dispute involving her. It’s a confusing storyline involving alcohol, blood and torn pillow fragments. But, while Stevens was arrested at the scene, he wasn’t charged.

Solo, 32, has won two Olympic gold medals for the U.S. women's national soccer team and plays with the Seattle Reign of the National Women's Soccer League. She also appeared on TV's "Dancing With the Stars" and in ESPN's The Body Issue, which features photos of naked athletes.

Seattle’s soccer superstar Hope Solo is in the spotlight of controversy again. Accused of drunkenly assaulting family members in June, the excellent athlete and, well, physically attractive human pleaded not

Speaking of controversial star athletes, there’s Richard Sherman. The new face of the Seahawks burst into the limelight with a terrific athletic performance against the 49ers that helped put the Hawks in the Super Bowl … and then had that over-the-top sideline shoutfest that shocked Erin Andrews and signaled a side of his personality we may yet see too much of.

It was The Rant Heard Round the World and in no small way that controversy helped propel him into fame and fortune. (Also, I hear, he’s a physically attractive human.)

We like him, but one gets the feeling he’s a little hard to live with on the practice field and has just a little bit of prima donna coursing through his veins.

Our sports columnist Jim Moore put it this way: “As a former sportswriter and a sports-talk show host, I should embrace athletes like Sherman. He makes for good stories and conversation. He's like Charles Barkley: You never know what he's going to say. But I've had my fill of that Richard Sherman.”

Photo: Seahawks player Richard Sherman gets worked up while watching teammates run drills on the ninth and final day of Organized Team Activities June 12 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton. (Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM)

Speaking of controversial star athletes, there’s Richard Sherman. The new face of the Seahawks burst into the limelight with a terrific athletic performance against the 49ers that helped put the Hawks in the

Now, back to Seattleites mixed up in crime. Amanda Knox has all the characteristics of being one of our regions top controversial figures.

She’s young. She pretty. She has been found guilty of a torrid sex crime and murder … in Italy. She has a lot of supporters here and she does present a sympathetic image. Plus, the trial, appeal, re-trial and then trial by media hasn’t given the Italian proceedings that shine of blind justice.

She was guilty and then not guilty and now guilty again. And now Italian prosecutors are keeping up the public pressure to force the U.S. to extradite her. They’re accusing her of "phone, sex and cash links to Italian cocaine dealer," according to The Independent.

Guilty or not guilty. We all have our opinions about her and it can still result in lively conversation … so, she’s resiliently controversial.

Photo: Amanda Knox waits on a television set for an interview Jan. 31in New York. Knox said she will fight the reinstated guilty verdict against her and an ex-boyfriend in the 2007 slaying of a British roommate in Italy and vowed to "never go willingly" to face her fate in that country's judicial system . "I'm going to fight this to the very end," she said in an interview with Robin Roberts on ABC's "Good Morning America." (Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP)

Now, back to Seattleites mixed up in crime. Amanda Knox has all... Photo-6748847.91970 - seattlepi.com

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Not sure how likable he is and “sexy” doesn’t sound right, but Seattle’s Mars Hill senior pastor Mark Driscoll is currently steeping in a whole pile of controversy, and it appears his revival tent is falling in on itself. He may not have been my kinda guy, but many many people found him exciting and engaging and so on. Otherwise his downfall wouldn’t resonate with the community like it does.

If he’d just been on the street corner bemoaning godless wimpy men and so on without a fan base, he wouldn’t have a big church or been selected to headline a bunch of top religious events.

But as it is, that fame and Driscoll’s personality are part of the controversy. Just Tuesday we reported:

Not sure how likable he is and “sexy” doesn’t sound right,... Photo-6748848.91970 - seattlepi.com

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Kshama Sawant won election to the Seattle City Council from the Socialist Combat Party … er ... the Socialist Alternative Party with the major pledge of getting a $15 an hour minimum wage on the books. And it happened, which is great.

But, man, can she get on people’s nerves.

When the city council passed the $15 wage bills, we reported, Sawant tried to rollback provisions such as training wages and a temporary incorporation of tips into the $15 wage base.
“It is clear why business wants sub-minimum wages for some workers: It is divide and rule,” Sawant charged.

At the same time, we wrote, Sawant was declaring victory, saying that the battle for a $15-an-hour wage was “won on the streets,” adding, “We defeated the arguments of business in the corporate media.”

Then there came the more bizarre stuff: What should Boeing machinists should do if their aircraft-building jobs were moved to another state?

“The workers should take over the factory and shut down Boeing’s profit-making machine,” Sawant declared. Later, she added: “We can re-tool the machines to produce mass transit like buses instead of destructive, you know, war machines.”

Hmmmmm … something smells like pie in the sky here. She reminds me of one of those activists you could always count on in college, but who argued all night over one impossible reality after another.

That said, she was clearly a big part of getting $15 an hour for Seattle workers.

However, it looks like she picked up one high profile opponent. We reported that Alison Holcomb may run against her: Holcomb, we wrote, believes that Sawant is an accomplished agitator, but demonstrates an ide less

Kshama Sawant won election to the Seattle City Council from the Socialist Combat Party … er ... the Socialist Alternative Party with the major pledge of getting a $15 an hour minimum wage on the books. And it

Not to mention that the Mariners — while holding their own this year (*smiley face*) — have had a really, really rough stretch. And plenty of people thought the man to go should be Zduriencik.

After manager Eric Wedge up and quit, as we wrote, “Wedge’s decision to leave, now that his three-year contract has expired, of course sparked further turmoil among M’s fans. As has seemingly become the routine in Seattle, many fans are calling for the ouster of not just GM Jack Zduriencik, but also the senior management."

But now that the M’s have a shot at the postseason for the first time since 2001 and have hired a new manager, the highly respected Lloyd McClendon, brought on Robinson Cano … plus, we hear, Zduriencik is a front runner for “executive of the year.”

Our sports editor Nick Eaton shares this thought: “If you brought up this idea one year ago -- the idea that Jack-Z could win Executive of the Year -- just about every Mariners fan would have laughed you out of town. But now, in the sixth year of his tenure as Seattle's general manager, Zduriencik's five-to-seven-year plan has come into focus.”

When Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain came to town, he was immediately beset in controversy because, apparently, he was sent here to browbeat local nuns.

He blanched a bit at all of that, but it’s The Church (if you’re Catholic) and that means he’s the lawman. And, of course, he’s likely to be a good one to be that high up in the church.

Nevertheless, the controversy must sting a bit. Earlier this month, we wrote:

The Seattle prelate assigned by the Vatican to restore obedience among America’s independent-minded Catholic nuns was extended an olive branch (as the sisters opened their annual conference in Nashville.)

Sartain, in his role as “archbishop delegate,” told the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) that he comes to them as “a brother and a friend.”

The former teacher and vice principal at Eastside Catholic High School Mark Zmuda, fired for marrying his husband, got a lot of support. There was the “Keep Mr. Z” campaign and protests by students and, as we reported:

A 20,000-plus signature petition by organization Faithful America was presented to the Seattle Archdiocese to reinstate Zmuda. The petition by Faithful America stated “Please listen to the students at Eastside Catholic and reinstate their vice principal. If Pope Francis says he won’t judge gays and lesbians, you shouldn’t be firing them.”

It hasn’t worked and he lost his job. There’s the little problem of the school being Catholic and so on …

“Mr. Zmuda’s decision presented the school with a difficult challenge, one that required a lot of reflection and prayer. … Catholic schools have a right to expect that school leaders will not only pass on Catholic teaching, but model it for students,” said Greg Magnoni, Seattle Archdiocese spokesperson.

That’s rationale doesn’t do much for us, but then we’re not running a Catholic school either. So, he’s the center of controversy, that’s likely to simmer along for awhile.

As KING 5 reported in April, he is currently suing the school and the Seattle Archdiocese for discrimination and wrongful termination. He is currently the assistant principle Mercer Island High School.

Photo: Former Eastside Catholic High School Vice Principal Mark Zmuda leaves a news conference at the office of his attorney Richard Friedman in downtown Seattle after they formally announced a lawsuit against the school and the Archdiocese of Seattle. (Credit: JOSHUA TRUJILLO/SEATTLEPI.COM)

The former teacher and vice principal at Eastside Catholic High School Mark Zmuda, fired for marrying his husband, got a lot of support. There was the “Keep Mr. Z” campaign and protests by students and, as

The former teacher and vice principal at Eastside Catholic High... Photo-6748852.91970 - seattlepi.com

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Now for that lowdown, two-timin’, no good, double-crossing … Steve! Steve Ballmer, yes you! You made all that money here, cruising 405 and 520 while raking it in at Microsoft. But now you’ve gone all glossy-eyed over your newest love, the Los Angeles Clippers.

“New Clippers owner Steve Ballmer resigned from Microsoft's board of directors, saying Tuesday that the combination of "the Clippers, civic contribution, teaching and study" would leave him little time to keep abreast of the company he led for 14 years.”

And we know what that means. You’ll be leaving us soon and tramping in the big city of sin.

We’re all used to the controversy over Ballmer’s leadership of Microsoft, but we didn’t know it would drive him away so soon after the breakup. Well, at least we still got Bill Gates. Now if he’d just take our phone calls …

Photo: Steve Ballmer, the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, pumps up the crowd during a fan festival at the Staples Center Aug. 18 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Jeff Gritchen)

Now for that lowdown, two-timin’, no good, double-crossing …... Photo-6748853.91970 - seattlepi.com

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The owners of Bertha — the broke a** tunneling machine stuck under Seattle — are at the epicenter of a $3.1 billion mega, simmering controversy. And they’re gunning for more money to make up for being stuck. As The Seattle Times put it:

“Barring further major problems, STP expects to finish the four-lane highway link from Sodo to South Lake Union in fall 2016, under a $1.44 billion contract. The partnership, led by Dragados USA and Tutor Perini, has filed a $125 million claim related to repair delays, which the state Department of Transportation denied, setting the stage for prolonged negotiations or a legal battle.”

We’d quit you if we could … but your damn Bertha is STUCK under our city!

Bertha itself is controversial … since plenty of people around here and former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn warned us and warned us that it would be a disaster. But we’re in it now and there’s nothing for it but to stand in the breach once more!

Bertha itself is controversial … since plenty of people around here and former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn warned us and warned us that it would be a disaster. But we’re in it now and there’s nothing for it

Bertha itself is controversial … since plenty of people around... Photo-6748856.91970 - seattlepi.com

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The backers of a real Seattle monorail are annoying and dreamers and … but also attractive in their grit. We voted for it and vote for it and it imploded and skidded off the rail and now we’re looking at another bout of mononucleosis.

“Get ready for Monorail, the Sequel. Seattle voters will decide in November whether to fund planning for an elevated line between Ballard and West Seattle — some nine years after an earlier monorail project imploded.“

Photo: Monorail supporters celebrate the measure's victory at a news conference at the Westlake Center monorail station in 2002. (Photo: Dan DeLong/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

The backers of a real Seattle monorail are annoying and dreamers and … but also attractive in their grit. We voted for it and vote for it and it imploded and skidded off the rail and now we’re looking at